Datsun continues to focus on entry-level cars in India

Kolkata: Datsun India said on Tuesday that it will continue to focus on entry-level cars only.

“We will continue to focus on entry-level cars only as there is a huge potential in the segment. India has less than 20 cars per 1,000 people,” said Datsun India Vice President Jerome Saigot.

Sister brand of Japanese car maker Nissan Motor, Datsun contributes 50 percent of Nissan’s overall sales in India, he said.

Launching the redi-Go hatchback here, Saigot said that Datsun sold 20,000 cars in the last financial year. It had rolled out two cars earlier and this is the third product launched in the country.

The Japanese car maker was eyeing a five market share in the Indian passenger car space by 2020. “Of the five percent share, Datsun is expected to contribute 50 per cent sales,” said Saigot.

India is the biggest market for the brand while it is also present in Russia, Indonesia and South Africa. The company planned to expand it to Nepal, Sri Lanka and African countries.

“We have achieved 98 per cent localisation,” he said.

The newly-launched hatchback will compete with cars of other companies in a segment which has demand of more than 30,000 units a month.